Catching Up

Once again, I have fallen behind on my blog. I have been pretty busy planning a trip, and I may not be able to post very much next week, either. I will try, though.

First, let me blog about Sunday for a minute. That game was incredible. The Sox overcame an umpire that forced White Sox pitching to pitch it into a tea cup and allowed Curt Schilling to throw balls 6 inches outside and low for strikes. Jermaine Dye's 2 out ninth-inning homerun off of Jonathon Papelbon is one of the high points of 2006 thus far, and winning the game in the nineteenth showed the resiliency that it takes to be world champions. That was incredible.

As for the All-Star game, Paul Konerko should have been the MVP. Michael Young could not have won the game with his ninth inning triple if Konerko had not extended the inning with his 2 out single. Konerko was 2 for 2 on a night in which the American League tallied a total of 7 hits. Young was 1 for 2 in the game.

By the way, Paul Konerko had 2 hits while Yankees and Red Sox players combined for zero. Make of that what you will.

Here are my obligatory award winners for the first half of 2006:

AL MVP: Travis Haffner, Cle- Haffner has hit 25 homeruns which ties him for fourth place with Jermaine Dye of the White Sox. Haffner and Dye are also the only two AL hitters with at least 25 homeruns and a batting average over .300 (.322 and .318 respectively). Haffner and Dye have very similar numbers, but I think that Haffner's 71 walks are much more impressive than Dye's 38. Furthermore, Haffner is more valuable to his team because the White Sox would be good without Jermaine Dye. Cleveland is not very good as they are, but they would be as bas as Kansas City without Haffner.

AL Cy Young: Francisco Liriano, Min- Liriano is 10-1 with a 1.83 ERA. He has thrown 7 innings or more in his last six starts. He has allowed more than 2 earned runs in only 1 of his 11 appearances. In addition to a blistering fastball and unhittable changeup, the lefty has pinpoint control. He has walked 19 batters and has struckout 102.

AL Rookie of the Year: See above.

NL MVP: Albert Pujols, StL- As has previously been documented on Sox Thoughts, the NL is not very good right now. However, Albert Pujols has managed to hit .316-29-76 (AVG-HR-RBI) against the NL's pitiful pitching. While it does not compare to the numbers put up by Haffner and Dye because of the AL's vast superiority, his numbers are still decent enough to win the NL's tallest midget contest.

NL Cy Young: Brandon Webb, ARI- Webb has posted an ERA of 2.65 and a record of 9-3. That translates to an ERA in the mid-threes in a DH league, but it is good enough for first in the league in the NL, which does not have many dominant pitchers right now. However, Webb has actually been pretty dominating when you consider that he leads the league in ERA while pitching in a hitter's paradise. He is a good young pitcher, and I am sure that the New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox will aquire him someday.

NL Rookie of the Year: Dan Uggla, FL- He made the All-Star team, and he is hitting .307-13-45. Those numbers are impressive in their own right. When you consider that he plays second base, they are out of this world. He has had a remarkable first half.